In the mid-1990s, I went on a personal Austrian-Hungarian Empire Tour: fly into Munich, pick up a rental car, and drive south towards Austria. In those embryonic days of the Internet, my prep consisted of purchasing maps and travel books. I distinctly remember buying an Austrian Baedeker’s guide whose alphabetical list of places and sights was less-than-useful for planning your next day from wherever I stopped for the night. Seat-of-your-pants improvisation.
For those too young to remember the mid-1990s: cell phones were still rare, 4G/5G was decades away, hotels didn’t offer wi-fi, and laptops were expensive and heavy. My one luxury was an AT&T calling card (whose number I memorized, 843-138-2192-6219 if you’re wondering) with which I could call my parents or whomever.
After learning of the trip, my father had some questions:
- Q: What days are you where? A: No idea.
- Q: How do I get in touch with you? A: You don’t.
- Q: What is there’s an emergency? A: You wait until I call.
Besides the occasional (and expensive) phone calls, I discovered internet cafes in both Prague and Budapest for sending reassuring emails to my father and grandfather (my mother was still email-less). The Budapest cafe, established by George Soros, was Budapest’s (Hungary’s?) first and was so popular that people booked time weeks in advance. Fortunately, no-shows allowed me to get online immediately on three occasions I could catch-up.
Overall the trip a success, though in Budapest the rental car was broken into and the stereo stolen….which meant an unplanned trip to Munich to exchange the car followed by months negotiating with travel insurance to reimburse for damages. Oh well.
Image Credits: “Internet Cafe – Cushing, Oklahoma” by Wesley Fryer is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
